Dick’s fries: New oil, new taste

In compliance with a measure passed last year by the King County Board of Health, Seattle’s famous fast-food burger chain has eliminated trans-fat oil from its french fries. Apparently, that’s changed the taste.

“We’ve had a number customers say they’re fine with it, and a number of customers say they detest it,” said Dick’s general manager Ken Frazier. “It’s still a very good product, but it isn’t the same.”

The company used a soy-palm blend shortening before it switched April 28. Now its five restaurants use Optimax, a cooking oil the company found after testing about 30 non-trans fat oils — some repeatedly — hoping for as little change as possible. The new oil’s absorption rates and cooking times have kept managers busy teaching employees to make the new fries right.

It’s the biggest change Dick’s fries have seen since 1954, and it’s made the fries crisper and more chewy, according to Frazier. “I can tell the difference in a heartbeat,” he said.

Ranelle Neilson said she does. She and her cousin Kailey, whom she introduced to Dick’s about 3 p.m., chatted about how much they liked the fries as they munched. Neilson didn’t notice the difference, but lit up when I told her her momentary fast-food indulgence was a little healthier today than it was last month.

“Wow,” she said. “That’s really nice to know.”

Trans fat is formed when manufacturers add hydrogen to vegetable oil — a process called hydrogenation. That increases the shelf life and flavor of foods, but the fats have been linked to obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

For the record, I tried the fries and didn’t notice a difference at all. My colleagues tell me that’s because I haven’t been eating them all my life — just the last year and a half I’ve been in Seattle.

“Dick’s goal is to not change anything,” Frazier told me. “If we had our way, we would never change a product. Changing something like our fries was a big thing to us.”